I've had dwarf whites in all of my vivariums since 2010 but never got any of the larger or "pretty" varieties due to the prices that I see online. Because of this, I never really paid close attention to them and have no idea how to differentiate between the different species when looking at them. I went to a reptile show today looking to see what frogs, plants, cork, driftwood, and microfauna were available. I didnt find much but I couldn't justify the drive without at least buying something so I bought some fruit fly cultures, a bean beetle culture, and two isopod cultures. There were a few vendors selling isopods but one vendor seemed to have more isopods per culture for a good price so I bought from them. When I asked about the species I was told that one was 'dairy cow' and one she couldn't remember the name but she thought it was something like 'brick orange.' I have heard about 'dairy cows' but nothing called 'brick orange.'

I know that there are different species and morphs that are white with black spots and different species with an orange morph so I decided to ask for positive IDs here. I do believe after looking at pictures online that the 'Dairy cows' are properly identified but I have no idea on the oranges. My guess is 'powder orange,' based on the bluish cast on the bigger ones, but they may just be getting ready to molt.

Do you have any tips on how a person new to isopods can tell apart porcellio laevis, porcellio scaber, and porcellionides pruinosus?